the proposals were drafted by a task force led by vice president joe biden after 20 schoolchildren and six educators were slain at an elementary school in connecticut last month. >> for the latest on this, let's go live to our correspondent, standing by in washington. the president does not have the political backing he needs right now for the tough laws. what is his agenda, both in the house and in the senate? >> right. he needs to get the votes to pass in the congress. obviously. so he is trying to change the equation, trying to build up pressure on congress men and women, and the one thing they respond to this pressure from their voters. they are actually quite accessible for their voters, so barack obama has called upon voters to call their congress people and say that it is important to ban assault weapons, for example. he has done that before -- for example, for the fiscal cliff just a couple of weeks ago. it has worked before. the other way he wants to build up pressure is by organizing this push for new laws, like a campaign with the money, the ads, and the whole machinery he u